Okay, another mention was made of using a spent primer in a shot cup (wad) to reduce the volumne of the wad and allow for a smaller shot charge, i.e. 1-1/8, spent primer and 1oz shot. Would this be legal in an ATA shoot? Are there any other rammications doing this? What about possible danger. The spent primer having a lower denity than the shot, would fall short of the shot's final destination. I would think the gun used would not suffer any damage, as long as the spent primer is in the wad cup, but just does not seem right to me. Do any of you know of any clubs that have a proabition against this practice? How many would be willing to admit to this practice?

I did that very method to use up most of a case of 1-1/8th oz clay busters when I started shooting 1 oz loads. It sounds sort of mickey mouse, but it seemed to work fine. Other people told me to usa about 4 popcorn grains. Good Luck

I doubt you would ever get called on a rules violation but as someone else pointed out ... why bother? Getting the correct wad isn't difficult or expensive. And yes, I know a guy that adds one, sometimes two spent primers in the shot cup to make things 'fit'. I have enough going on at the loading bench, I don't want another step in the loading process.

I would doubt that a live primer in a shot cup would do anything other then exit the barrel. I have been using a MEC 9000H since they were introduced and twice mutilated primers without going off. One was forced in the primer pocket upside down and the second was flattened sideways down to 1/8 an inch. Remember when Bruce Bowen was trying to achieve a catastrophic barrel failure and putting live primers into the powder? Nothing happened.

A fellow shooter I know swears his DB81 blew up because he thinks he dropped a live primer in a powder charage (he was one short at the end of his reloading session and could not find it anywhere), maybe I can have to contact Brue Bowen to explain his tests. The only time I have ever seen barrels blow or bulge is becuase of an obstruction, wad or another bullet, in the case of a rifle, handgun. I don' know about enough about primers and the extra pressure they can deliver with a load of powder.

I can remember John Wooters doing this in one of the old gun rags thirty or more years ago, before all the specialty wads were available. He'd use one, if memory serves, to go down to 1 oz and a couple to go to seven-eighths. Can't see any harm if they are dead and inside the cup (on the bottom). If in the middle or top of the shot pile they'd probably not help patterns.

(I've done it a couple times myself when I "wanted" some 1 ounce loads and didn't want to drive into civilization to buy wads).

"I wish someone would patern test with primer at the top of the shot charge and bottom of the shot charge and post the results."

Why would that make a difference? I have been involved in reloading for a very long time. In all of that time I have never seen a primer in the shot cup spent or otherwise recommended in any of the reloading manuals or reloading hand books.

Yet when someone comes on here and says he uses 1-2 grains more powder than is in the manuals everyone tells them to use only published loads. Now I am reading how everyone seems to be leaning toward this practice. Not one of you has even asked a question about if it is safe or not. What the hell is wrong with you people????????????????